454 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
June  1,  1899. 
variety  is  a  cross  between  Hawkes*  Champagne  and  Victoria,  with 
some  of  the  good  qualities  of  both  parents  in  it,  then  it  will  be  an 
acquisition  indeed,  and  we  that  are  Ehubarb  enthusiasts,  will  be  on 
the  look  out  for  it  in  some  nurserymen’s  catalogue. — N.  H.  P. 
THE  LATE  MR.  JAMES  KELM'AY. 
I  TRUST  I  may  be  allowed  to  join  with  others  in  expressing  my  regret 
on  hearing  of  the  death  of  this  eminent  horticulturist,  and,  as  our  first 
personal  acquaintance  was  made  under  very  peculiar  circumstances,  it 
may  be  worth  relating. 
In  the  year  1872  I  was  gardener  at  Killermont,  Glasgow,  and  a  member 
of  the  Committee  of  the  Glasgow  and  West  of  Scotland  Horticultural 
Society,  under  whose  auspices  we  had  determined  to  hold  a  grand  Inter¬ 
national  Horticultural  Show.  Among  the  exhibitors  was  the  laie  Mr.  James 
Kelway  ;  he  was  then  working  very  hard  in  going  the  rounds  of  all  the 
principal  shows  and  receiving  consignments  of  his  well-known  Gladioli 
blooms  from  home. 
It  so  happened  that  he  came  to  Glasgow  from  Ireland,  and  in  conse¬ 
quence  of  the  rough  weather  the  boat  was  so  late  that  when  he  arrived 
at  our  show  he  found  the  arrangements  complete  and  the  judging  in  that 
department  over.  Mr.  Eadie,  one  of  the  Stewards,  came  to  me  and  said, 
“Mr.  0.,  I  wish  you  would  come  to  my  tent,  as  there  is  an  Englishman 
there  with  some  splendid  Gladioli,  but  he  is  too  late,  also  he  is  so  excited 
I  can  do  no  good  with  him.”  I  replied,  “Take  my  duties  here  and  I  will 
soon  put  him  right.”  I  fouud  him  as  described,  and  as  the  delay  was 
caused  through  no  fault  of  his  own,  as  he  could  not  control  the  seas,  room 
was  at  once  provided  for  his  exhibit.  I  next  had  a  consultation  with 
other  members  of  the  Committee,  and  we  decided  to  call  in  the  .Judges 
again  and  leave  it  in  their  hands  to  do  what  was  right  to  him  as  an 
exhibitor  and  to  us  as  being  financially  responsible,  and  when  I  mention  the 
names  of  Mr.  Turner,  Slough  ;  Mr.  Downie,  Edinburgh  ;  and  Mr.  Paul, 
Paisley,  all  of  world-wide  reputation,  it  will  at  once  be  understood  that 
nothing  but  justice  would  be  administered.  The  result  was  an  equal  first 
prize  together  with  a  number  of  first  class  certificates  of  merit  to  individual 
varieties.  Thus  the  rough  w'as  maae  smooth  to  the  satisfaction  of  all. 
After  this  episode  Mr.  Kelway  never  failed  to  tell  me  he  “never 
received  greater  kindness  in  his  life  than  at  Glasgow.”  Thus  was  a 
friendship  founded  and  remained  to  his  dying  day.  Many  were  the 
pressing  invitations  I  received  to  pay  him  a  visit,  and  some  years  ago, 
on  having  business  in  Yeovil,  I  did  so.  Never  shall  I  forget  the  pains 
he  took  to  explain  to  me  everything  he  had  on  hand,  and  above  all  things 
his  career  through  life.  With  joy  and  delight  he  showed  mo  the  cottage 
and  the  small  piece  of  ground  where  ho  started  business  first,  adding, 
“I  and  my  wife  looked  at  this  nice  cottage  and  garden  with  longing  eyes 
before  we  wore  married,  and  what  a  remarkable  thing  that  we  ^l1ould 
ultimately  buy  it  to  be  our  first  place  ot  starting  business”  Com¬ 
paratively’  speaking,  it  was  an  iniant  then,  hut  the  piroperty  made  leaps 
and  bounds,  and  grew  into  a  business  of  elepha’ tine  dimensions.  Such 
is  the  reward  of  thrift  or  industry,  curoful  thought  and  economy. 
To  those  who  are  young  and  starting  in  life  I  would  say,  “Let  the 
memory  of  Mr.  Kelway’  be  indelibly  imprinted  on  your  mind  ;  never 
forget  that  he  started  life  as  a  young  gardener,  and  by’  his  own  industry 
built  for  himself  a  world-wide  reputation,  and  a  magnificent  business  for 
his  posterity  ;  also  remember  that  some  field  of  prospirity  is  open  to  you 
if  you  will  proceed  on  the  same  lines  of  diligence  and  prudence,  and  make 
the  best  of  opportunities.” 
With  all  due  reverence  we  will  pay  a  tribute  of  respect  to  our  departed 
friend — the  good  and  worthy  James  Kelway. — J.  OllerheaD,  The 
Gardener  Brickmaher. 
TOMATO  AVINTER  BEAUTY. 
Why  should  “  Market  Grower  ”  seeic  to  deprecate  the  usefulness  of 
the  fruits  of  this  Tomato  by  referring  to  them  as  “big?”  The  fruits 
were  not  big,  neitlier  have  I  said  so.  Really’  the  fruits  were  of  excellent 
market  size,  and  if  they  look  large  in  the  picture  that  is  because  the 
camera  tends  to  exaggerate  size.  Then  this  critic  states  that  if  the 
plants  had  been  shown  a  fortnight  or  three  weeks  earlier  he  w'ould  have 
been  better  pleased.  The  Committee  judged  of  the  merits  of  the  variety 
from^  the  fruits  shown,  from  the  photograph  sent,  which  exhibited  not  a 
portion,  but  the  entire  house,  and  from  evidence  given  by  a  member  of 
the  Committee,  who  had  just  previously’  seen  300  of  the  plants  as 
presented  in  the  picture  in  fruit.  But  “  Market  Grower  ”  forgets  that 
Mr.  Mortimer  did  have  fruits  before  the  Committee  a  fortnight  earlier, 
when  he  showed  some  half  hundredweight,  which  then  greatly  im¬ 
pressed  the  Committee.  Grown  beside  Conqueror  in  the  same  house 
the^  latter  was  not  nearly  so  good  or  so  early  ;  indeed  the  display  of 
fruit  made  by  Winter  Beauty  was  not  at  all  done  justice  to  by  the  photo¬ 
graph,  as  for  the  time  of  year  it  was  quite  unique.  Then  so  good  were 
the  fruits  that  they  easily  obtained  the  highest  prices  in  the  market. 
Tomatoes  presented  as  winter  fruiters,  such  as  Winter  Beauty,  cannot  be 
grown  and  tested  as  such  at  Chiswick.  As  its  name  implies,  the  v’ariety, 
which  is  of  dwarf  short-jointed  habit,  is  specially  regarded  as  a  winter 
and  early  spring  variety,  and  that  it  is  such,  and  a  first-class  one  for  the 
purpose  there  can  be  no  doubt. — A.  D. 
It  may  be,  and  no  doubt  is,  quite  true  that  the  fruits  of  Tomato 
Winter  Beauty,  which  secured  for  the  variety  an  award  of  merit,  were 
estimated  by  “provincial  judges,”  as  we  are  editorially  informed  oii 
page  435  last  week,  that  this  does  not  meet  the  real  question  of  a  ‘‘Market 
Grower.”  The  point  of  his  remarks  lay  in  the  implication  that  the 
Committee  had  infringed  their  own  rnle  in  granting  an  award  to  gathered 
fruits  alone  and  without  having  seen  plants  in  bearing. 
If  I  mistake  not,  a  rule  was  made,  and  acted  on  time  after  time,  that 
awards  should  not  be  made  from  fruits  alone,  either  of  Tomatoes  or 
Cucumbers,  as  so  much  depended  on  the  habit  and  productiveness  of  the 
plants  that  afforded  them,  for  determining  the  real  merit  of  a  new  variety. 
That  is  what  might  be  expected  from  a  practical  body  of  men  ;  and  is  it  not 
a  fact  that  awards  have  been  refused  until  fruiting  plants  have  either  been 
seen  growing  at  Chiswick  in  the  summer  or  brought  and  placed  on  tho 
Committee  table  by  their  cultivators  during  the  winter  or  spring  when 
plants  are  not  forced  into  bearing  in  the  E.H.S.  Gardens?  Have  not 
plants,  both  of  Tomatoes  and  Cucumbers,  been  brought  to  the  Drill  Hall 
in  accordance  with  tho  rule  in  question  before  the  Committee  would  make 
any  award,  however  handsome  the  fruits  that  had  been  previously  sub¬ 
mitted  ?  If  this  be  so,  why’  the  “departure”  of  which  a  “Market 
Grower”  reasonably  complains? 
One  thing  tolerably  certain  is  this — If  an  impression  is  conveyed  to 
the  public  that  exceptions  are  made  in  the  established  methods  of  dealing 
with  products  exhibited,  and  that  tho  evidence  ot  photographs  is  admitted 
as  valid,  the  trust  reposed  in  the  Committee  is  bound  to  be  diminished. 
The  Tomato  alluded  to  may  or  may  not  bo  the  best  in  the  world.  That 
is  not  the  question,  and  a  “Market  Grower”  weakened  his  own  case  by 
his  method  of  treatment  and  his  peculiar,  not  to  say  swaggering,  refer¬ 
ence  to  the  “provii.ces.”— An  Interested  Provincial. 
TAR  WATER  AND  LEAF  MINERS. 
As  there  has  been  some  irquiry  about  the  use  of  tar  water  as  a 
remedy  for  attacks  of  leaf  miners,  I  send  you  a  leaflet  on  the  subject, 
published  by  the  Department  of  Agriculture  in  New  Zealand,  It  may 
be  well  to  make  it  known  that  the  half  pound  of  gas  tar  is  boiled  in 
]  gallon  of  water  for  twenty  minutes,  and  while  toiling  hard  the  contents  of 
the  boiler  is  turned  out  into  a  vessel  containing  50  gallons  of  cold  water. 
Stir  thoroiiehlv.  then  spray  the  plants.  Most  insects  dislike  the  smell 
of  tar,  and  will  get  away  if  possible.  This  has  proved  effectual  in  pro¬ 
tecting  Cl  rysanthemums,  Cinerarias,  and  Marguerites  from  the  leaf 
miner,  and  Cabbiges  from  the  diamond-backed  moth. — E.  Luckhurst. 
The  leaflet,  written  by  Mr.  T.  W.  Kirk,  Government  Biologist,  is  most 
inter- sting,  as  well  as  instructive,  and  we  therefore  reprint  it  for  the 
benefiD  ot  our  readers. 
In  1894  I  suggested  the  use  of  tar  water  for  this  troublesome  pest, 
which  damages  so  m-  ny  garden  and  greenhi use  plants,  pointing  cut  that 
‘  tar  is  obnoxi’.ius  to  all  mseets,  and  they  will  get  aw  ay  from  it  if  possible.’ 
The  way  io  prepare  the  tar  water  is  halt  pound  coal  tar  boiled  in 
1  gallon  of  water,  and  when  boiled  for  some  time  diluted  with  50  gallons 
of  fresh  cold  water.  When  wriiing  the  article  referred  to  (in  1894)  I 
mentioned  that  in  Europe  a  small  Ichneumon  lly  helps  to  keep  the  miner 
in  check,  but  that  it  had  not  been  seen  lere  yet.  Last  year  (1897)  Capt. 
Bioun  reported  its  discovery  in  Auckland,  and  soon  after  I  bred  specimens 
here,  but  in  this  district  it  does  not  make  any  appreciable  difference.  The 
following  extracts  from  letters  of  a  correspondent,  a  practical  gardener, 
well  known  to  all  horticulturists  in  Wellington,  will  show  the  efficacy  of 
the  remedy  advocated. — T.  W,  IviRK, 
“The  Grange,  Wadestown.  31st  October  1896. 
“I  would  tike  to  tell  you  my  experience  w ith  your  tar  remedy  for 
leaf  miner  on  Cinerarias.  I  grow  a  good  batch  of  them  here,  and  last  year 
I  followed  jour  directions  tor  using  tar  as  a  preventive  of  the  miners’^ 
depredations.  I  sprayed  perhaps  about  lialf  a  dozen  times,  and  during 
the  whole  growing  season  I  was  unable  to  find  a  miner  on  the  plants. 
This  year  I  tried  the  difference.  I  have  trusted  to  hunting  them,  with 
the  result  that  many  of  mv  plants  were  quite  spi  iled,  and  every  one  was 
more  or  loss  disfigured.  The  hunting  business  not  only  required  more 
time  than  I  could  afford,  but  even  when  found  the  insects  had  already 
done  more  or  less  harm,  so  in  future  I  will  pm  my  faith  on  your  tar. — 
Eaithtully  yours,  W.  11.  Taylor.” 
“  Wadestown,  9ih  September,  1897. 
“  Some  time  ago  we  had  a  talk  re  Cineraria  miner.  I  told  you  then 
that  I  had  tried  jour  tar  remedy  with  sat'sfactoiy  results.  I  now  report 
to  you  result  of  further  trial,  and  will  review  my  past  experience.  I  used 
the  remedy  first  in  1895,  and  had  not  a  single  leaf  injured  until  the 
plants  w  ere  in  full  flower,  when,  owing  to  the  plants  being  surrounded  by 
other  flowering  plants,  I  was  unable  fo  use  the  tar  water,  then  I  had 
plenty  of  the  miner.  Some  of  my  gardening  acquaintances  were  sceptical' 
as  to  the  efficacy  of  the  remedy,  suggesting  that  I  would  have  been  free 
from  the  pest  m  any  case.  I  could  only  say  that  plenty  o*  the  insects- 
could  be  found  on  the  Thistles  all  over  our  plate,  and  could  therefore 
see  no  reason  why  I  should  enioy  immunity  more  than  others.  Last 
season,  with  a  view  to  testing  the  question,  I  made  no  use  of  the  tar 
water,  and  before  this  time  was  picking  off  the  riddled  leaves.  This- 
season  I  have  used  it  again,  and  up  to  this  date  have  not  seen  a  single, 
solitary  miner  on  my  plants,  aboirt  eight  in  number,  though  at  least 
two  growers  have  to  my  knowledge  had  their  plants  quite  ruined  by 
them,  and  I  saw  it  cn  one  man’s  plants  about  three  months  ago.  When 
I  use  the  tar  water  1  syringe  the  glass,  .staging,  and  floor  ot  the  house 
mainly,  giving  the  plants  a  light  dose.  I  do  not  see  how  an  experiment 
could  be  more  complete  than  mine  has  been,  and  I  am  quite  satisfied. — 
Yours  faithfully,  W,  H.  Taylor.”  ; 
